Leland Chen, John Lenehan - Beethoven (Leland Chen)

07:58, 19 April 2010

ByManchester Evening News

THERE'S no shortage of recordings of Beethoven's sonatas for piano andviolin, but this pairing of two of the greatest of them all, byManchester-based virtuoso Leland Chen and John Lenehan, can stand proud with the best.

Beethoven: 'Kreutzer' Sonata in A op. 47 and Sonata in C minor op. 30, no.2, for violin and piano. Leland Chen, violin, and John Lenehan (LCP502,mid-price)

THERE'S no shortage of recordings of Beethoven's sonatas for piano andviolin, but this pairing of two of the greatest of them all, byManchester-based virtuoso Leland Chen and John Lenehan, can stand proud with the best.

The 'Kreutzer' sonata - which inspired a Tolstoy novella, and thatin turn a string quartet by Janacek - is rightly known as a towering peak ofthe repertory. It's as long as any symphony, despite being in only three movements (a monumental sonata opening, a theme-and-variations and a rondo), and traverses a range of style from grandiose to tender and sombre tohumorous.

The C minor sonata is a hefty one, too, with quintessentially Beethoven fire and fury in its outer movements and both a meltingly beautiful slow movement and a silvery little scherzo in between.

They are both played here with unfailing brilliance and glorious singing tone. Leland Chen, a Menuhin pupil, has been praised before for his extraordinary mastery of a wealth of different styles and modes of expression, and there's nothing quite like Beethoven to bring out the best in a violin player.

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